Fireborne
by SiriusMarauderFan
Summary: Charlie Weasley, avid gamer, Lord of Dragons? Not now that someone had stolen his favorite username. one shot.


**Author's Note:** Written for Sam as a _slightly_ belated birthday gift! :D

A million thanks to Liza for betaing and helping me with the ending.

Also written for…

Out Of This World Challenge. _Prompts:_ Virtual World!AU, Percy, "Want an out of this world experience?"

(Writing Club) World Wide Web Day. _Task:_ Write a fic based around the usage of internet.

Jenga Challenge. _Prompt:_ Rare

* * *

 **Fireborne**

 _1,760 word_

* * *

' _Want an out of this world experience?_

 _Abra Kadabra Games would like to present our new MMORPG, Fireborne!_

 _Tame and care for dragons as your guild fights for dominance in the kingdom of Ember.'_

Charlie could hardly contain his excitement at watching the game advertisement. Flashing images of dragons and castles, and men in shining armor riding on dragons.

He quickly set about making an account, entering in his usual gaming username that seemed even more appropriate now: DragonLord1000.

A small error message popped up on his screen. ' _We're sorry, that username is not available_.'

Charlie blinked at the message in confusion. "But … that's _my_ name."

Passing by on the way to the kitchen, Percy peered over his brother's shoulder. "Oh, don't tell me there's another dragon nerd out there," he snickered.

Charlie ignored him, dejectedly typing in his second, less awesome option: lightmyfire82. He would have vengeance on whoever took his beloved title.

Then the game brought him to a screen to be able to customize his avatar, and Charlie's revenge was momentarily forgotten.

:-:

' _Join a guild for a chance to win a real-life prize!'_

"Burning Hoods, Sizzling Swords, or Flaming Arrows?"

Percy looked up from his book, heaving a sigh. "Is there a less dorky option?"

Charlie glared at him. "This is important, and I can only choose once!"

"I guess … Flaming Arrows sounds alright."

Satisfied with that reasoning, Charlie selected the arrow icon and was taken to his new guild's headquarters, where he could chat with other members and start playing.

He skimmed the list of players, hoping to see some familiar names from the other rpgs he frequented. He made it ten names in when a username caught his eye.

"DragonLord1000?" he muttered, clicking the profile. "I joined the same guild as the jerk who stole my name!"

Percy frowned. "You know you're not a _real_ dragon lord, right?"

Charlie ignored him, scrolling through the imposter DragonLord's profile. There wasn't much info to go on: a male in his early twenties, living in London. He had chosen a prettyboy Elven archer with long, flowing blond hair as his avatar. Charlie scoffed at it. It was about as far from his own burly, bearded redhead as they could get.

"He's obviously overcompensating for something with an avatar that good looking."

Percy snorted. "Yeah. I bet he's about fifty with a beer belly and a bald patch."

:-:

' _Make friends with your teammates!'_

lightmyfire82: hey dragonlord, you stole my name.

DragonLord1000: I beg your pardon?  
lightmyfire82: im always dragonlord.

DragonLord1000: I guess I'm the DragonLord now.

blaze: Hate to interrupt, but we're being attacked here...

Charlie fumed at the screen. How dare this Elf think he was good enough to hold that title when Charlie had been using it since Abra Kadabra released Heavencry ten years ago?

He would make the Elf pay.

:-:

' _Train with your dragon familiar.'_

"Why is that ogre riding a vulture?"

Charlie glared at his now-least favorite brother. He poked a finger at the screen. "That is my rogue knight, Kayriel. And _that_ is his Red Dragon, Ozadur." He smiled proudly as the beast set fire to a series of moving targets. "Red Dragons are very rare. I was lucky to find one!"

Percy stared dubiously at the creature. "That's really … great."

:-:

' _Earn gold by caring for dragons and hatching eggs.'_

Charlie settled down at his desk, hugging a large cup of coffee to his chest.

He had been up half the night playing Fireborne. Half the guild's dragons were stuck in the infirmary after taking a beating from the brutal Burning Hoods attacks and Charlie was doing what he could to nurse them back to health while also popping into the Hatchery every few moments to check on Ozadur's new egg.

He thought he was safe to step away for a few moments to get himself a much-needed boost of caffeine. The egg was close to hatching, and there was rarely anyone online so late at night…

"Where's my egg?"

Charlie frantically clicked through the Hatchery, searching for the golden egg that he'd been minding for the last few hours. After exhausting all options, he glanced at the chat box at the bottom.

' _DragonLord1000 has hatched an egg!'_

lightmyfire82: that was my egg!

DragonLord1000: Then you should have been watching it more closely.

:-:

' _Do battle against the opposing guilds.'_

"Son of a … We can't … Impossible!"

Percy groaned, putting down his book. "Charlie, you're mumbling again."

The older redhead paid him no mind, too engrossed in what he was doing.

In the three months since Fireborne's launch, the Flaming Arrows had maintained a new perfect record, staying at the top of the leader board. But the Burning Hoods had suddenly developed a new interest in raiding the other guilds for gold and eggs, and their favorite target were the Arrows.

blaze: We need back up! Get more Riders to Dante's Overpass!

lightmyfire82: ive got 14 dragons in the infirmary. no one else to send.

Of anyone in the guild, Charlie had gained the most skill in healing the injured dragons, and had therefore taken it upon himself to stay behind during the raids.

DragonLord1000: I need Zara up and flying now!

Charlie hurried to check the Blue Dragon's status.

lightmyfire82: she wont be good to go for another fifteen minutes.

He could feel DragonLord's contempt radiating off his Elven avatar, and Charlie didn't blame him. Despite their differences, DragonLord was the best of their Knights, and everyone knew the Arrows had a better chance of survival with him in the air.

An idea struck Charlie and he rushed to execute it, mournfully typing his plan into the chat.

lightmyfire82: dragonlord, im sending you ozadur.

DragonLord1000: What?

lightmyfire82: we need you in the sky and ozadur is my fastest dragon. bring him home safe.

There was a long moment of silence and Charlie bit his lip, worrying that DragonLord would turn him down. They had constantly been at odds for the last three months, but this was important. This was worth working together for.

blaze: That's really cool, man.

DragonLord1000: Yes.

DragonLord1000: Thank you.

Charlie smiled.

lightmyfire82: go win this for us.

:-:

' _Congratulations, Flaming Arrows. You've won free passes to Abra Kadabra Con this summer!'_

Charlie nervously fidgeted with his cloak.

"Having trouble with your dork cape?" Percy said, trailing behind him.

"What are you even doing here?"

Percy nodded toward a sign that read 'Sherlock Holmes Appreciation Assembly.'

"Have fun with the other nerds," he called as he followed a group of men dressed like Holmes.

Charlie shook his head and readied himself to meet his fellow Flaming Arrows.

He had never been to a convention before, and the sheer size of the crowd overwhelmed him. A third of them were dressed just as elaborately as he was, in fantasy clothing or armor that gave away which game had brought them to the con.

"All Flaming Arrows to the stage!"

Charlie jumped at the announcement and slowly made his way to the front of the hall, nervously taking his place amongst twenty other men and women as the head of Abra Kadabra Games stepped to the mic.

"Thank you all for coming out to the fifth annual Abra Kadabra Con!"

Charlie glanced at the other Arrows from the corner of his eye, trying to figure out which one was DragonLord. Despite his and Percy's jokes, none of the players on stage looked as old and sad as they had guessed. Everyone faced forward, smiling proudly as the announcement continued.

"It's my pleasure to stand up here with the winners of Fireborne's first ever Guild Cup, the Flaming Arrows. Please give them a round of applause."

Charlie flushed as the hall erupted in deafening applause. He seized the distraction as a chance to search again, as everyone on stage was enamoured by the attention they were getting. A woman to his right stepped forward to take a bow, and then he saw him.

It was like the Elven avatar had climbed out of the game and was standing right in front of him. A tall young man with pale blond hair pulled back, dressed in the crimson robes of the Arrows. There was no doubt that this was DragonLord1000.

He caught Charlie staring and smirked. Charlie turned away quickly, embarrassed. He hadn't meant to stare. He hadn't thought his rival would be so handsome.

The first panel of the con only lasted a half hour.

Charlie waited outside the hall for DragonLord to come out. He wasn't sure why - he didn't have anything to say to him really. Any problems they had with each other since Fireborne's launch seemed to end the night of the final raid. They hadn't interacted since then.

"You look better than your avatar," he heard a voice like silk say behind him. Charlie whirled around to find the tall blond standing behind him. "DragonLord1000, at your service. But you can call me Draco."

Charlie fumbled to introduce himself, his mouth dry. "C-Charlie Weasley. Good to … see you?"

Draco smiled and leaned against a column, his cloak falling aside and showing off his skin-tight costume. "I'm glad you're here. I've wanted to meet you since that last raid," he said, reaching into a pouch tied around his waist. "I suppose I ought to thank you for your help that night. We couldn't have won if you hadn't sacrificed your dragon. That was really selfless."

Charlie was about to wave it off - he didn't like the attention - but Draco was pulling something shiny and round from his pouch.

"I figure I owe it to you," Draco said, shrugging.

Charlie stared in awe at the replica golden dragon egg. He gently took it in his hands, cradling as he would if it were real. "Thank you," he whispered.

"Now we're even."

They shared a moment of comfortable silence which Draco had to break…

"But you know, I could have won that battle much sooner if I'd been flying on Zara. And your dragon could definitely use some more training."

Charlie frowned, suddenly not as impressed with the blond.

"You can make it up to me by taking me out to dinner," Draco continued, crossing his arms.

"Are you … hitting on me?"

"I do have a thing for redheads, you know." He winked seductively at Charlie, who smiled at the advance.

"Well then. I think I better take advantage of my good fortune and take you out right now. Shall we, Dragon Lord?"

"It would be my pleasure."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Percy totally took advantage of someone else in the family have a geeky hobby. They are both huge nerds and I love them.

Also, yes, Charlie did leave Percy at the convention alone. :P


End file.
